Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-06-15
A REPRESENTATIVE MAN.
what Industry aud EmerSy Ca"
Accom- D "A h in this State.


accSsnpli n in this state.
r. N. widney was born in Miami
county, Ohio. December ODD, 1888. and
educated in the public schools OF tnat
section for short period ouly. Every
bow in those days had to make his way
by individual effort. This consisted in
telling trees. choppiug cordwood. milk
ing uaruly cows, moving hay with an
old fashioned scythe, some OF the snaths
ornamented with two handles and some
with one, turning grindstone to sharpen
dull axes and scythes. wedding
the garden, preparing kindling
wood aud making fires IN front
of the indispensable back log,
shaking hay to clear it ot rain or
dew and fetching the cows home when
the shadows began to lengthen in the
evening
The schools continued about three
months in the winter, beginning about
the first of December and ending when
the maple sugar making season com
menced in the early spring. An early
uRar.making season often closed the
school going season before the pupils had
fiuished Vulgar Fractions" in ''Da.
boll's Arithmetic. Arithmetic was
spelled with 4 at the end in those
days.
The "American Manual" or "New
English Reader" was the reader OF those
days and ended very properly with
history of the United States aud the
De eclaration Of Independence and the
United States Constitution, subjects
that are omitted in the present abomi-
nable curricalum of the public schools,
in which the pupil is required to read
five different readers and close without
grace of speech or knowledge of what
good reading is. With all the boasted
progress of the age, any intelligent OBJ
server can see that the multiplication of
the text books is disadvantage. 1t
does not make scholars, readers or
orators. II only occupies the childs'
mind with a simple ambition to get
through with as many books as possible.
Not SO in former days when the pupil
was tonfiued to few books ab 3undiog in
facts.
When the ideas in these books were
mastered the pupil was prepared to 60
0ut and battle with the vicissitIdes of
lsfe. These fortunate children, while
they had to struggle for existence VT re
not obliged to lolter through
five readers, three arithmetics, three
biographies, two grammsrs. book of
rhetoric, two spelling books according
to the size of the child, four series OF
writing books, and book on word
analysis, with three books ON natural
philosophy and two on algebra and
and geometry as at present, and so came
ont of school under quite as favorable
conditions as those of the present day,
who are serfs of book publishers during
all their school years
The school houses were usually OF
logs In the days when Robert M. Wild.
ney went to school and the benches and
dssks were split from the robust tulip
tree of the Buckeye State.
At the age of sixteen he left Ohio to
go west aud seek knowledge aud wealth
in the then mysterious Rocky Noun
tains. Two years were spent in adven-
ture with rife, axe and knapsack. No
ueighbor's house was near for shelter,
and the wild deer and buffalo furnished
him food whenever his unerring rifle
was brought into use to appease his ap
petite. Hundreds of miles was he from
any human habitation except lodges of
Sioux indians, Navajoes, Algonquins or
Shoshones.
In 1857 he came over the plains to
California after the great placer mining
excitement had subsidized and quartz
mining had no particular exhibit of sue.
ccss- In fact, ''the times were out of
joint" and money panic swept every
State ia the Union.
+" the State bis capt.
sgvheN Hs srrives ~
tai consisted Of 81 Co. tiao;n
To add 10 hia rns1erate supply Of COIN
he engaged TO chop cordwood a9t =
dnartz mill near Marysville at Sl.oo per
cord. His achievements with the axe
were a passport to promotion and good
living but he moved on 10 Santa Clara,
there he entered college in 1898 as
..ndent. Here be remained as a stu
dent and afterwards as professor Of nat
ursl sciences till 1868. when he left the
college with the highest honors OF the
institution.
After few years spent in mining in
yestigations ia Nevada and California,
he removed to Los Angeles, arriving in
1865. .beforea railway was just commenced
between Los Angeles and the ocean.
Los Angeles was then small village
with no buildings OF any pretense tt
Architectural beauty. The hotels ant
dwellings, were nearly all adobe an
clustered around the plaza. Th
streets were ungraded, few AM
marrow. and in summer were sand
and difficult of travel. AT once he too
ia the situation. He saw the most fer
tile laud in America stretched cut befoI
him on all sides. From San Fernando
San Gorgonio and the Sierra Madre
the sea. and declared and wrote h
convictions often, earnestly, and wit
most happy effect. No man has workt
with more intelligent zeal and compile
SUCCESS in carrying out his plans of i'm
rroyement than Judge Widney. Amor
.ther and numerous items it may
.,sfed that he called the first meetir
Car the establishment of the Metho1i
Eo;socpal Church in Los Angeles, the Fo
street M. E. Church and established an
snuerintended the Sunday school CO.
rected with that society for sever
years. ~.
he commenced at about that time
soon after q profound study OF I'll
rroper scheme Of railways to center
fhis city and radiate in such direction
~ would develop the country to II
fullest extent. The plan contemplate
embraced d line cast north, beside tw
lines south TO the sea. He also mad
,,jans AID specifications for the improve
nss& q WIIminaton (pow San Pedr'
k11 + go nInns woro sent 10 HoI